Enemy ... or enema territoryI think games Nos. 1 and three are the most important. Dallas has lost both. Frankly, it doesn't look good for them. Far from over, I still think you can rewatch last night's game and find some very unsettling and ugly tendencies that this franchise still has, and it's these tendencies that will always sink them in the end. Sometimes sooner, sometimes later, but the animal's instinct always rises to the top.
Shot Selection
Around the middle of the fourth quarter, I dare you to start charting the shots. Almost all of them came from at least 20 feet. In total, the Mavericks attempted 18 field goals in the fourth quarter. Ten of them (10!) came from at least 20 feet, most were three pointers. The Mavericks went 2-10 from this range. There were five shot attempts from the lane (what we in the business call "high-percentage" shots) and the Mavericks made four (one was Tyson Chandler's putback on an errant long-range shot).
Worse yet was the lack of ball movement. Open jumpers and three pointers I can handle. What I can't handle is if a Heat player has the ability to leap and get a hand in the face or in/around the ball. The Mavericks were settling. Down six or five, they'd make a pass and whoever got the ball shot it. The Heat are really good defensively, the last thing you need to do is to make perimeter shooting (your strength) easy to defend.
Unforced Turnovers
I tried to remember them all. Impossible. There had to be at least eight. And I think they all turned directly into Heat slam dunks. I have no problem pointing to the Heat being good defenders and that affecting your play. However, I saw Dirk Nowitzki simply throw the ball right at Dwayne Wade, who scooted down court and slammed it. I saw Joe John Barea just give it up possession after possession. Jason Kidd was erratic and has been all series. And due to the make-up of the Heat, it always translates into two points. Always.
The Bench
I listened to The Ticket this morning. Craig Miller -- a basketball brain I typically respect -- said that championships aren't won by the bench, but, instead, by your starting five. That's fine and I agree. However, going into this series ... hell, going into this SEASON, all we talked about was how some deep team was going to take Miami out because you can't win a championship with just two-and-a-half guys. The Mavericks weren't hoping for their bench to outplay the Miami bench. No, the Mavs' bench was supposed to erradicate the Heat bench from the face of the Earth. It was supposed to be head over heels better and there'd be such a deficit that the Heat could not recover. The Mavs' eight were supposed to out-everything the Heat's eight. Hasn't happened. Not only are Wade and Lebron James killing you, but Mario Chalmers, Udonis Haslem and Mike Bibby are hurting you. There is little doubt that the Heat bench are winning this battle.
Jason Terry
Has sucked balls all series. Remember, this was coming. Sooner or later. Terry always sucks in at least one series. Here it is. And I've never seen a player hot dog it to the fans in regards to a teammate's play ... as if he had anything to do about it.
The Unplayables
Perfectly honest: I don't see how you can put Peja Stojakovic and J.J. Barea on the court. If Stojakovic sees the court again this series, I'll be floored and I'd fire Rick Carlisle on the spot, if I were Mark Cuban (and I'm not enough of a jerkoff douche to fill his shoes). The Mavs have three bigs -- Peja, Brian Cardinal, Ian Mahinmi -- that can't get on the court. That's crazy. Barea's a tougher nut because no matter how much I hate him, he's the 38-year-old point guard's back-up. Still ... he's awful. You can almost guarantee an opponent's run with the entrance of Barea on the court and you can also guarantee a Maverick's run when he gets off.
The bottomline here is that the Mavericks are in deep shit and there's little answer outside of wiping the dust off Roddy Beaubois and Corey Brewer -- the two most athletic guys on the bench. However, at this point, it'd be a sign of desperation and you don't throw hail marys to win championships.
